Administering oral therapeutics to juveniles, particularly neonates is problematic. Juveniles and neonates often squirm and are uncooperative when adults attempt to administer oral therapeutics. This can cause therapeutics to be spilled or wasted. Additionally, when a therapeutic is spilled or wasted it becomes difficult to determine the quantity of therapeutic that a juvenile or neonate has ingested. Moreover, when therapeutics that are to be administered in certain quantities are spilled before the juvenile or neonate ingests the therapeutic, a medical practitioner or parent may be unsure that the child has received the correct dose, making the treatment less effective.
Additionally, it is important that the device does not become contaminated when used multiple times. For example, when a practitioner gives sweetener to calm a neonate before a painful procedure, many practitioners dip the pacifier into a container of sweetener. This container generally becomes contaminated when the pacifier has to be dipped several times.
Some prior art administration devices require the practitioner to manipulate the package of the oral administration device in order to cover the administration device with a therapeutic. This manipulation can be tedious because the practitioner must make sure that enough therapeutic has coated the oral administration device. Moreover, this prior art device could be messy if the practitioner tries to coat the oral administration device more than one time. Another prior art method requires a practitioner to fill the oral administration device prior to administering to the neonate. This can be tedious if the therapeutic is spilled when poured into the device. These prior art methods also make it difficult to determine whether the juvenile or neonate received the correct dose of a particular therapeutic. Therefore, what is needed is an oral administration device where the therapeutic is contained in the oral administration device and force applied by the neonate's mouth will cause the sweetener to be expelled. Additionally, it would be beneficial to have an oral administration system that allows a practitioner to easily fill the device prior to administration.